Netflix Explains Why Fuller House Is a Thing That Exists, When Marvel's Next Series Might Premiere, and More

Netflix will release 475 hours of original programming this year, including its original scripted comedies and dramas, children's programming, documentaries, and comedy specials. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos took the stage at the Television Critics Association summer press tour on Tuesday to discuss said programming and most importantly, why the streaming service decided to bring back the '90s series Full Housedespite the fact the show itself is not currently available to watch on on Netflix.

"Full House is a really neat show in [popular] culture in that it never went away," explained Sarandos, noting that the show has seen success in syndication and its audience has become multi-generational in part because it's been readily available since it ended its original run.

Most of the show's original cast has returned for Fuller Houseand the series, which follows a recently widowed adult DJ Tanner, is "very much in the same spirit... but a modern take on Full House," said Sarandos.

And most important of all the most-important things, the Olsen twins are also "teetering" on whether or not they'll be part of the revival.

Here are some other highlights from the panel:

On viewing numbers: At this point, trying to pry numbers out of Sarandos is like pulling teeth, but that won't stop us from trying. Sarandos noted that the decision to renew shows is determined on a show-by-show basis and that there is no ground floor a series has to reach to get good news. Netflix also doesn't line its shows up against each another, because their intent is not to draw the biggest audience. "None of [our] shows are designed to attract the entire 65 million subscriber base to watch... These shows have been successful in addressing the audience segments were chasing."

On when Marvel's Jessica Jones will premiere: Netflix hopes to launch two of their planned Marvel series a year. "Ideally there will be a rhythm of every six months you'll get a new series from the Defender group," said Sarandos. If you do the math, that means Jessica Jones should debut sometime in October (Marvel's Daredevil was released in April), but only time will tell if that's true. Sarandos also said that some of Marvel's series will "selectively have multiple seasons."

On the status of a new season of Arrested Development: "We are plugging along—and I know I keep saying that, but it's a long, complex deal to make for these guys," Sarandos said. "This show is owned by Fox, so we have to make a deal with Fox and the talent makes a deal with Fox, and Fox has to get it into its production schedule." But Season 5 is coming, he assured.

On Adam Sandler: "I don't have to defend Adam Sandler," said Sarandos when asked about Netflix's decision to enter into a deal with the actor, recently under fire for perceived racist humor in his upcoming Netflix series The Ridiculous Six. He also called the recent debut of Pixels "respectable" and said that they made the deal with Sander because he is an "enormous international movie star."

On whether sports will ever come to Netflix: Noting that sports are largely a live-viewing experience, not an on-demand one, Sarandos said, "I would not rule it out in terms of we will never do sports, but today, the real benefit of watching something on Netflix is the consumer control of it."

On upcoming programming: During the panel, Netflix also announced premiere dates for the Season 4 of Longmire and Aziz Ansari's new comedy series, Master of None. Netflix also renewed BoJack Horseman for a third season.

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